Houston ISD campus closures: District adds Marshall, Hamilton Middle schools to list of closures due to air conditioning outages

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Nearly 40 Houston ISD campuses are closed Tuesday due to ongoing building issues, including lack of air conditioning, as the district continues to recover from last Thursday’s destructive storm.

Thirty-six schools were already planning not to open, but that number rose to 38 after HISD said air conditioning broke overnight at Marshall Middle School and Hamilton Middle School.

These two campuses will remain closed on Tuesday.

The video above is from a previous report.

“We cannot safely serve students at this time,” the district said of Marshall and Hamilton.

Here are the other HISD campuses that are closed:

• Barrick Elementary School
• Benbrook Primary School
• Berry Primary School
• Black College
• Browning Elementary School
• Burrus Primary School
• Cage Elementary School
• Chrysalis College
• Clifton Middle School
• Alternative Education Program in Elementary Disciplines (DAEP EL)
• Dogan Primary School
• Field primary school
• Forest Brook Middle School
• Furr College
• Montessori garden oaks
• Harper DAEP
• Roland P. Harris Elementary School
• Harvard Elementary School
• Heights Secondary School
• Hilliard Elementary School
• Hogg College
• Houston Math, Science and Technology Center High School
• Janowski Elementary School
• North Houston Early College High School
• Northline Elementary School
• Oak Forest Primary School
• Robinson Elementary School
• Roosevelt Elementary School
• Scarborough High School
• Secondary DAEP
• Sinclair Elementary School
• Smith Elementary School
• Sugar Grove Middle School
• Mark White Elementary School
• Whittier Elementary School
• Waltrip High School

HISD campuses not named on the list will be open, the district said.

HISD will distribute light meals to students at the above campuses between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. at the YDC Sunrise Center at 6050 Bretshire Drive.

Campuses will also provide learning modules that students can complete at home if they are able.

The district will also relax the dress code over the next few days for open campuses to help families manage the impacts of the storm.

This comes after HISD released information about the closures Monday evening, hours after classes were halted on 54 campuses.

However, that did not include Reynolds Elementary School and Heights Middle School, where classes began but were later halted due to air conditioning issues on campus.

As of Sunday afternoon, HISD assured that some campuses will have electricity, a fully functioning cooling system and food service ready to serve.

However, it turned out that this was not the case for all campuses.

In a message sent to parents of Heights High School students Monday morning, Principal Wendy Hampton said classes would be canceled for the remainder of the day Monday, due to ongoing problems with the air conditioning.

Students were immediately dismissed and given lunch to take home if they wished.

Students at Lamar High School were sent home early following a gas leak, the Houston Fire Department confirmed. Principal Rita Graves called parents to inform them of the situation and asked them to seek updates on a plan. The school was open again Tuesday morning.

Parents of students at Reynolds Elementary School were informed by the principal that due to air conditioning issues, classes were canceled for the remainder of the day. The district provided transportation for students who needed it.

Scarborough High School is one of the campuses that is still in the dark.

ABC13 was at the school Monday, where crews were seen restoring power. We asked the district if generators were being installed, but were unable to get a response.

Damage was also seen near Sinclair Elementary School in the Lazybrook-Timbergrove area.

PREVIOUS REPORT: HISD releases list of select campuses to open Monday after closures due to deadly storm

HISD said Sinclair is one of four campuses with significant damage — Pugh, Robinson and Paige elementary schools are the others.

Superintendent Mike Miles said schools without power are the biggest problem.

“The goal is to try to have every school ready by Monday, if the power comes back on, so that the children can go to school. It will be their choice. If there is a power outage in their home, I hope they are able to come to school where there is power,” Miles said.

Miles says depending on the situation, they can transport students from schools without electricity to schools with electricity.

SEE OTHER DISTRICTS: Southeast Texas schools announce reopening plans after destructive storm